1. Report: Vatican to take €100m loss on London building, By The Pillar, November 9, 2021
The Vatican Secretariat of State is set to record a loss of more than 100 million euros on the resale of a London building at the center of the current financial scandal and trial, according to a new report.
According to the Financial Times, the Vatican is in the final stages of selling the building to private equity firm Bain Capital for some 200 million pounds sterling, approximately 233 million euros, or 271 million dollars.
The secretariat paid a reported total of 350 million euros for the property in 2018.
The sale comes amid an ongoing budget crisis for the Holy See.
https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/report-vatican-to-take-100m-loss
___________________________________________________________
2. Pope Francis prays for Iraqi PM after assassination attempt, By Courtney Mares, Catholic News Agency, November 9, 2021, 6:00 AM
Pope Francis is praying for Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi after an attempted assassination attack on his home with armed drones.
The pope expressed his “prayerful closeness” in a telegram released by the Vatican on Nov. 9 in which the attack in Baghdad was condemned as a “vile act of terrorism.”
“Following the attack on your residence in Baghdad, his Holiness Pope Francis wishes me to convey his prayerful closeness to you and your family, and to those injured in condemning this vile act of terrorism,” said the message sent on the pope’s behalf by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/249538/pope-francis-prays-for-iraqi-pm-after-assassination-attempt
___________________________________________________________
3. Charles de Foucauld and 6 others to be canonized May 15, By Hannah Brockhaus, Catholic News Agency, November 9, 2021, 4:50 AM
The Vatican on Tuesday announced that the canonization of Bl. Charles de Foucauld and six others will take place in Rome on May 15, 2022.
The date of the canonization had been delayed due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, Foucauld’s postulator told CNA last month.
The May 15 ceremony will be the Catholic Church’s first canonization Mass since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. It will take place two years and seven months after the most recent canonization, that of St. John Henry Newman and four others in October 2019.
Bl. Charles de Foucauld was a dissolute French soldier who became a Trappist monk and Catholic missionary to Muslims in Algeria.
…
With Foucauld, Pope Francis will also canonize Devasahayam Pillai, a layman from India who was martyred after converting from Hinduism to Catholicism in the 18th century.
..
Two religious sisters will also be canonized on May 15: Bl. Maria Francesca di Gesù, the foundress of the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of Loano, and Bl. Maria Domenica Mantovani, the co-foundress and first general superior of the Institute of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family.
Bl. César de Bus, Bl. Luigi Maria Palazzolo, and Bl. Giustino Maria Russolillo — three priests who founded religious congregations and institutes — will also be declared saints.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/249537/charles-de-foucauld-and-6-others-to-be-canonized-may-15
___________________________________________________________
4. Indian Catholics hope a papal visit will halt anti-Christian persecution, By Claire Giangravé, Religion News Service, November 8, 2021, 11:53 AM
A recent meeting between Pope Francis and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has raised hopes among Indian Catholics about the possibility of a future papal visit, one that might help foster religious freedom and gender equality in one of the world’s largest nations.
The Oct. 30 meeting between the pope and the Indian prime minister was met with a feeling of “gratitude” by Catholics living in India, said Joseph Ivel Mendanha, provincial superior of the Redemptorist Province of Majella in India, in an interview with Religion News Service.
…
India has experienced a spike in violence against Christians in the country in 2021, according to data released Oct. 21 by the Association for the protection of Civil Rights. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has ranked India as a country with top-tier levels of persecution against religious minorities.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/indian-catholics-hope-a-papal-visit-will-halt-anti-christian-persecution/2021/11/08/70725382-40b4-11ec-9404-50a28a88b9cd_story.html
___________________________________________________________
5. French bishops agree to compensate sex abuse victims, By Associated Press, November 8, 2021, 2:03 PM
France’s Catholic Church announced on Monday that it would financially compensate sex abuse victims by selling property assets or taking out a loan if needed.
French bishops said in a written statement they will set up an “independent, national body” tasked with addressing compensation issues. They committed to allocating money to a specific fund “in order to compensate victims,” notably by selling property or through a potential loan.
They also called on Pope Francis to send “a team of visitors” to assess the church’s response regarding child protection.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/french-bishops-agree-to-compensate-sex-abuse-victims/2021/11/08/98d6b720-40c6-11ec-9404-50a28a88b9cd_story.html
___________________________________________________________
6. Bishops seek answers in vandalism of churches and Catholic symbols, By Alejandra Molina, Religion News Service, November 8, 2021, 5:13 PM
It was after a pair of Catholic churches caught ablaze last summer, one in Southern California and another in Florida, that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops decided to start documenting and tracking vandalism at Catholic sites across the country.
The two fires occurred on the same morning: July 11, 2020. One destroyed the rooftop of the historic San Gabriel Mission — the fourth of a series of missions across California that Father Junipero Serra founded during the Spanish colonization era. The other ignited in Queen of Peace Catholic Church as parishioners prepared for Mass in Ocala, Florida.
Nobody was injured, but Aaron M. Weldon — of the USCCB’s Office of Religious Liberty — said the fires were “the impetus for us to start monitoring these sorts of events.”
Since then, the USCCB has tracked more than 105 incidents of vandalism of Catholic sites in the U.S., including arson, graffiti and defaced statues. The organization has logged news reports of such incidents dating back to May 2020, but it doesn’t yet have a detailed breakdown that categorizes the different kinds of vandalism.
…
While these incidents point to specific issues — the colonization of Indigenous people, the church’s stance on abortion, the priest abuse scandals — Weldon said there isn’t always messaging left behind at vandalized Catholic sites. He said damaged statues, such as monuments to Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary, make up a large portion of the vandalism they’ve documented.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/bishops-seek-answers-in-vandalism-of-churches-and-catholic-symbols/2021/11/08/19759738-40e1-11ec-9404-50a28a88b9cd_story.html
___________________________________________________________
7. Special report: Who we are, and what we believe, The Pillar Survey on Religious Attitudes and Practice, By Brendan Hodge, The Pillar, November 8, 2021
America is a country in the midst of major religious flux.
It is already well-known that a growing number of Americans say they have no religious affiliation. But far less appreciated is this: Only 35% of Americans attend religious services on a weekly basis. And 28% of Americans say they have a different religious identity than the one in which they were raised.
But while American ties to institutional religion weaken, religious belief itself remains common. Fifty-two percent of Americans agree with the statement “Jesus suffered and died to redeem our sins” — including 21% of Americans who say their religion is “nothing in particular.”
These findings are some results from The Pillar Survey on Religious Attitudes and Practices, which we present this week in a series of reports.
Our survey of Catholic and non-Catholic Americans aims to understand what Americans believe, how they think about their religious identity, and how the map is changing for the American religious landscape.
Among Catholics, our survey aims to understand how the pandemic has changed Catholic practice — and if we might “go back” to how things used to be. We also asked Catholics to tell us what matters to them, and how much they trust the Church and her leaders.
Finally, we took a look at why people stop practicing the Catholic faith, and asked what factors might predict whether people raised Catholic will continue going to Mass, and living the Christian life, as adults.
We have some fascinating data to show you this week, beginning with a look at who we Americans are — religiously, that is — and what we believe. Some results will surprise you.
https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/special-report-who-we-are-and-what
___________________________________________________________TCA Media Monitoring provides a snapshot from national newspapers and major Catholic press outlets of coverage regarding significant Catholic Church news and current issues with which the Catholic Church is traditionally or prominently engaged. The opinions and views expressed in the articles do not necessarily reflect the views of The Catholic Association.
|
